Travelling north of Ewhurst the footpaths will take you through varied terrain, eventually leading upwards to Pitch Hill or Holmbury Hill, where the landscape changes dramatically as you come to the sandstone ridge which forms the Surrey Hills. I will write about these hills soon but for now I will make some observations on the countryside just beneath them.
Walkers in the countryside will be familiar with the incidents that befall wildlife; nature can be cruel, as every countryman or woman knows. This tale has a happy end. We were walking across fields, passing a thick covert of woodland, when a young Roe Deer leapt in front of us and galloped over the grass towards the road, clearly spooked by our presence. It then seemed to disappear and we wondered where it could have gone. Five minutes later, by now walking along North Breache Lane, we heard scuffling in the hedge and saw that the deer was trapped in the mesh of a fence. Every effort it made worsened the situation, as the animal became more panicked. Jackie said that it would soon disentangle itself and we should wait further down the road, so that it might calm down. So we went a bit further on but it became clear that it was still stuck; I decided I had to do something, although I confess I had no idea how I was going to free a frightened, kicking animal. It could not be left and so I started to cross the ditch to get to the deer. It was wonderful to be so close to such a beautiful, gentle looking creature. My main thoughts were, however, not aesthetic at the time and I was not sure how it would react to me being so close. As I got near the animal, miraculously, it struggled free of the wire, fell into the ditch, righted itself and dashed away down the road, as right as rain.
Continue readingIn church-yards the deep roots of place are manifest; the transience of our lives meet with symbols of ancient times that remind us of the passage of time before our own. To stop and think as we look at grave stones of people long gone, who have lived their lives in the village or to consider the great age of the old yew tree, now so bowed by age that its huge weight rests on lower branches touching the ground. Thomas Gray, in his ‘Elegy in a Country Church-Yard’ captures this reverential sense when he writes, ‘And all the air a solemn stillness holds’ and he goes on to meditate in this solitary place, on the way in which fate had determined a humble life for the buried dead. Yet, he speculates:
Continue readingHawthorn is excellent hedging; it grows thick and its sharp thorns deter live-stock escaping and prevents predators getting into fields. It shares these properties with Blackthorn, which is also a common hedge shrub and both plants festoon the hedgerows with white foliage. Blackthorn flowers early in February, while Hawthorn waits until late April or May, so now is a good time to see the beautiful May blossom, (May is the common alternative name for Hawthorn), flamboyantly colouring waysides. Hawthorns have been part of the English landscape for hundreds of years and may date back to neolithic times. The name itself derives from the old English haga, meaning hedge, whilst thorn was an extant word which became linked to it, probably in the twelfth century. Middle English records the word hawethorn. This etymology points to the antiquity of some of our hedges. They are great habitats, particularly for nesting birds, their thick impenetrable nature offering considerable protection. In fact, it is difficult for even the keenest eyed naturalist to identify parent birds, as one usually just gets a quick glimpse before the bird disappears into the darkness where a well-hidden nest has been built.
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